Print, online winners announced in IJEA’s 2014-15 Newspaper Contest

CHARLESTON — Ranging from in-depth feature stories to punchy headlines — not to mention eye-catching photos and reader-friendly websites — the published work of Illinois high school journalists in this year’s IJEA Newspaper Contest reaffirmed the high quality of work going on in journalism classes and student newsrooms around the state.

Despite the official title of our contest, entries from news publications other than traditional newspapers, such as magazines and websites, are accepted for consideration.

To be eligible this year, entries must have been published between March 1, 2014, and March 19, 2015.

One of the hallmarks of our contest over the years has been to divide the competition into classifications based on school enrollment, thus giving each publication a fair chance to compete against schools of roughly the same size.

A few years ago we changed the way we classify enrollment divisions for both our newspaper and yearbook contests. Instead of having a fixed enrollment limit for each division, our classification cutoffs are fluid and subject to change depending on the number and size of the competing schools each year.

So, for example, although Division 1 remains the classification for our smallest schools, the maximum cutoff for the division may change from year to year. The specific numbers for each division in this year’s contest are given below.

We’ve included links to all first-place division winners in the categories of features, blogging, headlines, photos, infographics and websites. (There was no winner for blogging in Division 1.) For future contests we hope to be able to display winners in all categories. In the meantime, congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s competition!

DIVISION 1 NEWS PUBLICATIONS
This year, Division 1 competitors came from schools ranging in enrollment from 175 to 503 students. Not every category listed below had three winners.

Best Overall Newspaper
1. U-High Midway (University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Cook County)
2. The Phoenix Chronicle (Phoenix Military Academy, Chicago, Cook County)
3. The Warrior (Casey-Westfield Jr.-Sr. High School, Casey, Clark County)

Best News Story
1. Julian Lark (U-High Chicago)
2. Maia Boussy (U-High Chicago)
3. Warrior staff (Casey-Westfield)
• Honorable Mention — Joshua Dominguez, Ivan Cervantes (Phoenix Military)

Best Feature Story
1. Mike Glick (U-High Chicago) — Read the story here
2. Julian Lark, Grace Anderson, Michaih Buchheim-Jusisson (U-High Chicago)
3. Carlos Garcia (Phoenix Military)
• Honorable Mention — Warrior staff (Casey-Westfield)
• Honorable Mention — Erica Rulevish (Okawville Jr.-Sr. High School, Washington County)

Best Sports Story
1. Alex Harron (U-High Chicago)
2. Michaih Buchheim-Jusisson (U-High Chicago)
3. Anthony Labrado (Phoenix Military)
• Honorable Mention — Connor Cutright (Casey-Westfield)

Best Staff Editorial
1. Kyndall Patrick, Conner Cutright, Colleen Farrell, Stephanie Lamb (Casey-Westfield)
2. U-High Midway staff (U-High Chicago)
3. Andy Cruz (Phoenix Military)

Best Editorial Cartoon
1. Lydia Fama (U-High Chicago)

Best Column
1. Kyndall Patrick (Casey-Westfield)
2. Luke Murphy (U-High Chicago)
3. Mike Glick (U-High Chicago)

Best Review
1. Logan Thoms (Okawville)
2. Clyde Schwab (U-High Chicago)
3. Alejandro Marroquin (Phoenix Military)

Best Blogger
No winner

Best Headline
1. Luke Murphy (U-High Chicago) — Read the headline here
2. Phoenix Chronicle staff (Phoenix Military)
3. Mattie Williams (Meridian High School, Macon, Macon County)

Best Photograph
1. Ivan Cervantes (Phoenix Military) — See the photo here
2. Warrior staff (Casey-Westfield)

Best Infographic
1. Phoenix Chronicle staff (Phoenix Military) — See the infographic here

Best Comic Strip or Panel
1. Lydia Fama (U-High Chicago)
2. Kat Flocke (U-High Chicago)

Best Advertisement
1. Dalton Collins, Boyd Matthias (Meridian)
2. Mike Glick (U-High Chicago)
3. Mike Glick (U-High Chicago)
• Honorable Mention — Dalton Collins, Boyd Matthias, Clayton Moore (Meridian)

Best Front-Page Design
1. Warrior staff (Casey-Westfield)
2. Mike Glick (U-High Chicago)
3. Katy Roe, Erica Rulevish (Okawville)

Best Centerspread
1. Grace Anderson, Mike Glick (U-High Chicago)
2. Warrior staff (Casey-Westfield)
3. Grace Anderson (U-High Chicago)

Best Overall Design
1. Warrior staff (Casey-Westfield)
2. U-High Midway staff (U-High Chicago)
3. Erica Rulevish, Katy Roe (Okawville)

Best Multimedia Feature
1. Phoenix Chronicle staff (Phoenix Military)
2. Dalton Collins, Shanya Parry, Katie Petrowsky (Meridian)

Best News Site
1. phoenixmilitarynews.com (Phoenix Military)
2. meridiandaily.net (Meridian)

DIVISION 2 NEWS PUBLICATIONS

This year, Division 2 competitors came from schools ranging in enrollment from 577 to 1,346 students. Not every category listed below had three winners.

Best Overall Newspaper
1. The MHS Mirror (Mattoon High School, Coles County)
2. The Zephyr (Taylorville High School, Christian County)
3. The Kaneland Krier (Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Kane County)

Best News Story
1. Mary ZuHone (Mattoon) — Read the story here: Page 1 Page 2
2. Jenna Butler (Mattoon)
3. Luke Sloan (Taylorville)
• Honorable Mention — Nathaniel Master (Harrisburg High School, Saline County)
• Honorable Mention — David Higgs (Harrisburg)

Best Feature Story
1. Sydney Edwards (Mattoon) — Read the story here
2. Sydney Edwards (Mattoon)
3. Brett Pinkerton (Harrisburg)
• Honorable Mention — Riley Barker (Taylorville)

Best Sports Story
1. Luke Sloan (Taylorville)
2. Brett Pinkerton (Harrisburg)
3. Sam Wolf (Kaneland)
• Honorable Mention — Jacob Harris (Mattoon)

Best Staff Editorial
1. Christin Watkins (Mattoon) — Read the editorial here
2. Luke Molen (Taylorville)
3. David Higgs (Harrisburg)
• Honorable Mention — Melanie Glisson (Springfield High School, Sangamon County)
• Honorable Mention — Michelle McCracken (Kaneland)
• Honorable Mention — Emily Smoot (Springfield)

Best Editorial Cartoon
1. Angel Dishman (Harrisburg)
2. Angel Dishman (Harrisburg)
3. Derby Roan (Mattoon)
• Honorable Mention — Brandon Park (Kaneland)
• Honorable Mention — Matt Thomson (Springfield)

Best Column
1. Trey Skocy (Mattoon) — Read the column here
2. Hope Johnson (Taylorville)
3. Molly Mickelson (Herscher High School, Kankakee County)
• Honorable Mention — Katie Rearden (Springfield)

Best Review Writing
1. Hope Johnson (Taylorville)
2. Kaitlyn Ball (Taylorville)
3. Dean Divizio (Kaneland)
• Honorable Mention — Trey Skocy (Mattoon)

Best Blogger
1. Katie Ervin (Mattoon) — Read the winning blog posts here: Post 1 Post 2 Post 3

Best Headline
1. Tyler Shekleton (Springfield) — Read the headline here
2. Katrina Paulick (Kaneland)
3. Trey Skocy (Mattoon)
• Honorable Mention — Meg Kettelkamp (Taylorville)

Best Photograph
1. Katie Ervin (Mattoon) — See the photo here
2. Dean Divizio (Kaneland)
3. Sam Brinkman (Herscher)
• Honorable Mention — Arianne Boma (Harrisburg)
• Honorable Mention — Luke Molen (Taylorville)

Best Infographic
1. Sophie Collings (Mattoon) — See the infographic here
2. Jack Coyle, Katrina Paulick, Gabby Cano (Kaneland)
3. Sidney Welling, Peyton Bustamante (Harrisburg)

Best Comic Strip or Panel
1. Derby Roan (Mattoon) — See the comic here
2. Albert Henderson (Mattoon)

Best Advertising
1. Gabby Cano (Kaneland)
2. Sydney Edwards (Mattoon)
3. Sydney Edwards (Mattoon)

Best Front-Page Design
1. Sydney Edwards (Mattoon) — See the front-page design here
2. Melanie Glisson (Springfield)
3. Nathaniel Master (Harrisburg)
• Honorable Mention — Jack Coyle (Kaneland)

Best Centerspread
1. Paige Jordan (Mattoon) — See the centerspread here: First page Second page
2. Hope Johnson (Taylorville)
3. Gabby Cano, Austin Kintz (Kaneland)
• Honorable Mention — Herscher newspaper staff (Herscher)

Best Overall Design
1. MHS Mirror staff (Mattoon)
2. David Higgs, Sidney Welling (Harrisburg)
3. Luke Molen (Taylorville)

Best Multimedia Feature Package
1. Katie Ervin (Mattoon) — See the two entries here: Entry 1 Entry 2

Best Newspaper Website
1. mhsmirror.org (Mattoon)
2. kanelandkrier.com (Kaneland)

DIVISION 3 NEWS PUBLICATIONS

This year, Division 3 competitors came from schools ranging in enrollment from 1,566 to 2,000 students. Not every category listed below had three winners.

Best Overall Newspaper
1. The Correspondent (John Hersey High School, Arlington Heights, Cook County)
2. The Guardian (Elk Grove High School, Elk Grove Village, Cook County)
3. Deerprints (Deerfield High School, Lake County)

Best News Story
1. Brad Bickmore (Deerfield)
2. Matt Hickey (Marist High School, Chicago, Cook County)
3. Rebecca Watters (Grayslake North High School, Grayslake, Lake County)
• Honorable Mention — Evan Hatfield (Elk Grove)
• Honorable Mention — Drew Shelson (Hersey)

Best Feature Story
1. Matt Hickey (Marist) — Read the story here
2. Nate Horne (Hersey)
3. Adam Katz (Deerfield)
• Honorable Mention — Isabella Murray (Hersey)

Best Sports Story
1. Danny Goldberg (Deerfield)
2. Lizzie Youshaei (Deerfield)
3. Ryan Herrera (Elk Grove)
• Honorable Mention — Connor Sinclair (Grayslake North)

Best Staff Editorial
1. Rebecca Watters (Grayslake North)
2. The Correspondent staff (Hersey)
3. Rebecca Watters (Grayslake North)
• Honorable Mention — The Correspondent staff (Hersey)

Best Editorial Cartoon
1. Dino Ljubijankic (Hersey)
2. Julia Hapanowicz (Hersey)

Best Column
1. Dino Ljubijankic (Hersey)
2. Nick Konow (Marist)
3. Lauren Velasco (Grayslake North)

Best Review
1. Megan Casey (Elk Grove)
2. Nick Filca (Elk Grove)
3. Drew Snelson (Hersey)

Best Blogger
1. Dino Ljubijankic (Hersey) — Read a sample of the blogger’s work here

Best Headline
1. Sean Lehning (Elk Grove) — Read the headline here
2. Deerprints staff (Deerfield)
3. The Correspondent staff (Hersey)

Best Photograph
1. Mili Pandya (Hersey) — See the photo here
2. Jade Lewis (Elk Grove)
3. Noah Kemp (Marist)
• Honorable Mention — Nic Baggetto (Elk Grove)
• Honorable Mention — Mili Pandya (Hersey)

Best Infographic
1. Jack Hargett (Hersey) — See the infographic here
2. Jack Kaup (Elk Grove)
3. Hannah Rosemurgy, Cindy Om (Grayslake North)

Best Comic Strip or Panel
1. Connor Sinclair (Grayslake North)

Best Advertisement
1. Jack Hargett (Hersey)
2. Jack Hargett (Hersey)

Best Front-Page Design
1. Nic Baggetto, Gian Bulleri (Elk Grove)
2. Jack Hargett (Hersey)
3. The Sentinel staff (Marist)
• Honorable Mention — Deerprints staff (Deerfield)
• Honorable Mention — Hannah Rosemurgy (Grayslake North)

Best Centerspread
1. Morgan Loxley, Sean Lehning, Nic Baggetto, Laura Augustaitis, Megan Casey (Elk Grove)
2. Danielle Eriksson, Ellen Bakal, Kelly McCarthy, Kenzie Killamm, Drew Snelson (Hersey)
3. Morgan Loxley, Nic Baggetto, Mark Munson, Laura Augustaitis (Elk Grove)

Best Overall Design
1. The Guardian staff (Elk Grove)
2. The Sentinel staff (Marist)
3. The Correspondent staff (Hersey)
• Honorable Mention — Knight Times staff (Grayslake North)

Best Multimedia Feature Package
1. Isabella Murray, Mili Pandya, Caity Strozenski (Hersey)

Best Newspaper Website
1. dhsmedia.org (Deerfield)
2. knighttimes.d127.org (Grayslake North)
3. correspondentlive.com (Hersey)
• Honorable Mention — eghsguardian.com (Elk Grove)

DIVISION 4 NEWS PUBLICATIONS

This year, Division 4 competitors came from schools ranging in enrollment from 2,100 to 3,600 students. Not every category listed below had three winners.

Best Overall Newspaper
1. The Oracle (Glenbrook South High School, Glenview, Cook County)
2. (tie) The Omega (Downers Grove North High School, Downers Grove, DuPage County)
2. (tie) The Prospector (Prospect High School, Mount Prospect, Cook County)

Best News Story
1. Julia Jacobs (Glenbrook South)
2. Alice Vagun (Adlai E. Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, Lake County)
3. Julia Jacobs, Charlotte Kelly (Glenbrook South)
• Honorable Mention — Fathma Rahman (Stevenson)
• Honorable Mention — Rachel Krusenoski, Michael Rivera (Downers Grove North)
• Honorable Mention — Mike Stanford (Prospect)

Best Feature Story
1. Palak Patel (Huntley High School, McHenry County) — Read the story here
2. Aaron Ach, Madison O’Brien (Glenbrook South)
3. Katie Callaghan (Downers Grove North)
• Honorable Mention — Hailey Hauldren (Glenbrook South)

Best Sports Story
1. Katy Roach (Stevenson)
2. Kat Gorospe (Huntley)
3. Adam Reckamp (Huntley)
• Honorable Mention — Peter Fusilero (Prospect)

Best Staff Editorial
1. The Oracle editorial board (Glenbrook South)
2. The Oracle editorial board (Glenbrook South)
3. Caroline Binley (Prospect)
• Honorable Mention — Sarah Henderson (Huntley)

Best Editorial Cartoon
1. Natalia Marra (Downers Grove North)
2. Veronica Holloway (Prospect)
3. Brenda Reyn (Stevenson)
• Honorable Mention — Brenda Reyn (Stevenson)
• Honorable Mention — Nimisha Perumpel (Glenbrook South)
• Honorable Mention — Kaitlin Day (Glenbrook South)

Best Column
1. Michael Rivera (Downers Grove North)
2. Aaron Ach (Glenbrook South)
3. Camille Paddock (Huntley)
• Honorable Mention — Nitya Gupta (Stevenson)

Best Review
1. (tie) Dani Tuchman (Glenbrook South)
1. (tie) Dani Tuchman (Glenbrook South)
3. Izabela Zaluska (Stevenson)
• Honorable Mention — Nicole Williams (Downers Grove North)
• Honorable Mention — Nicole Williams (Downers Grove North)

Best Blogger
1. Elai Kobayashi-Solomon (Prospect) — Read a sample of the blogger’s work here
2. Tyler Lopez (Huntley) — Read a sample of the blogger’s work here

Best Headline
1. Alexandra Sharp (Glenbrook South) — Read the headline here
2. Alice Vagun (Stevenson)
3. Ellen Siefke (Prospect)
• Honorable Mention — Maggie Curran (Downers Grove North)

Best Photograph
1. Cassidy Selep (Prospect) — See the photo here
2. Claire Filpi (Huntley)
3. Katelyn Luckey (Glenbrook South)
• Honorable Mention — Sabrina Szos (Stevenson)
• Honorable Mention — Katelyn Luckey (Glenbrook South)

Best Infographic
1. Hannah Henry (Downers Grove North) — See the infographic here
2. Katy Ryan (Prospect)
3. Alice Vagun (Stevenson)

Best Comic Strip or Panel
1. Austin Paul (Glenbrook South)
2. Nimisha Perumpel (Glenbrook South)

Best Advertisement
1. Hannah Jeon (Stevenson)
2. Aungelina Dahm (Prospect)
3. Marley Hambourger (Glenbrook South)
• Honorable Mention — Claire Filpi (Huntley)

Best Front-Page Design
1. Julia Jacobs, Camille Park (Glenbrook South)
2. Maci Schaub (Downers Grove North)
3. Alice Vagun (Stevenson)
• Honorable Mention — Jess Clavero (Huntley)

Best Centerspread
1. Hannah Henry, Gaby Martinez (Downers Grove North)
2. Bethany Dain (Belleville West High School, Belleville, St. Clair County)
3. Claire Filpi, Kat Gorospe, Devin Martin, Jess Clavero (Huntley)
• Honorable Mention — Shannon Smith, Diana Leane, Katy Ryan (Prospect)

Best Overall Design
1. Madison O’Brien, Aaron Ach, Rachel Chmielinski (Glenbrook South)
2. The Omega staff (Downers Grove North)
3. The Prospector staff (Prospect)
• Honorable Mention — The Voice staff (Huntley)

Best Multimedia Feature Package
1. Claire Fisher (Glenbrook South)

Best Newspaper Website
1. prospectornow.com (Prospect)
2. huntleyvoice.com (Huntley)
3. theoracle.glenbrook225.org (Glenbrook South)